Junior diary: Record-setting week

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Hey y’all!

Wow, what a week. I had so much fun in Huntsville, Ala., at the AJGA Huntsville Junior presented by The Huntsville Athletic Club. I never thought somewhere like Huntsville would be a beautiful place, but let me just clarify this – it is an amazing place and it was so pretty! Last Sunday I had to play in the AJGA’s K12 Qualifier because I decided pretty late that I wanted to play in the tournament, and therefore I had to try to qualify on Sunday. I was extremely nervous for several reasons, especially because my brother was coming. He has never watched me in a tournament in his life, however he decided to wake up at 4 a.m. and drive three hours to Huntsville with my father to watch me play. I shot 66 and played really well and had a lot of fun! I won the qualifier and ended up getting to play in the tournament.

On Monday, I played in the Junior-Am once again and had an amazing time with the people I played with. They were really, really nice people. In fact, they were so nice that they came and watched me play every day! We did not win the Junior-Am, but we had a lot of fun and I got to see the course which was so pretty because we were actually on top of a mountain! The sights on the course were some of the prettiest views I’ve ever seen!

Junior diary

Emma Talley, 16, will file a diary each week this summer as she plays some of the premier junior events in the country.

Talley is a two-time Rolex Junior All-American and has four AJGA victories. In addition to her three wins in 2009, she posted a pair of runner-up finishes and advanced to the quarterfinals at the Polo Golf Junior Classic. She first broke 70 at the age of 11.

Tuesday started the tournament and my tee time was at 7:10 a.m. I was so tired that morning but I was also very excited and went out there just trying to keep the ball in play because there were so many places where you could hit your ball off the cliff. Anyway, I had a lot of fun with the people I played with and even though I started off rough, going 2-over par in the first 5 holes, I came back and shot a 4-under 67. At the end of the day, I felt confident about my round and I was leading by four shots.

The second day I had an early tee time again at 7:40 a.m., and was even more tired than the day before, but my game plan was just to keep the ball in play and try to eliminate my mistakes. I changed a few club selections from the day before and ended up shooting 66 and was leading by 14 strokes. The last day I got to play with some different people that were really nice too and we had a good time. Even though I just wanted to play good enough to win, I also knew that there were some AJGA records that I could break. My tee time was at 11:30 a.m. and I started out 1 under after three holes. I shot 3 under on the front nine and ended up shooting a 6-under 65 to seal the deal. I was so excited about shooting 15 under through the week and winning by 22 strokes, but I have to thank God because he was with me throughout the whole thing.

I broke some records and played well. I met so many nice people, a lot of nice girls from Alabama, Tennessee and Texas. I had great food and the golf course was just beautiful. This will help me a lot going into this week while I am at the U.S. Girls’ Junior. I am really excited and played my first practice round on Saturday. The course was amazing and I loved it (knock on wood). The tournament starts on Monday so everyone please wish me luck! Y’all have a good one!

Khang qualifies for Women's Open, wins pro event

For now, Sarabande Golf Club looks more like a motocross track than a golf course. But by the end of August, Ben Pauluhn hopes it will provide students at Gary Gilchrist Golf Academy a one-of-a-kind practice experience.

Renovations under way for Gilchrist practice facility

Renovations are under way at Sarabande Golf Club to create a new state-of-the-art practice facility for students at Gary Gilchrist Golf Academy.
(
Courtesy Ben Pauluhn
)

Confident Proveaux succeeds with unusual swing

Emma Talley’s junior golf days may be waning, but she hasn’t slowed in her collection of accolades. The Alabama commit won her fourth consecutive AJGA event Monday at the AJGA Girls Championship, setting the record for most victories in succession on the elite junior circuit.

Adam Ball played his final five holes in SIX under par to close out Juan Yumar and move into the quarterfinals of the U.S. Junior Amateur. <strong>Ryan Lavner</strong> recaps that and the rest of the day's action.